04/09/2015 14:29
Unfortunate injuries highlight morning’s play at #EuroBeachVolleyU20, get well soon Leonie and Julia!
2015 CEV U20 Beach Volleyball European Championship
Larnaka, Cyprus, September 4, 2015. The morning’s play in Day 3 of the 2015 CEV U20 Beach Volleyball European Championship in Larnaka was overshadowed by the injuries to Julia Radl representing Austria and Leonie Welsch from Germany.
The first injury happened in the deciding set of the all-Austrian affair in court 4, between Mona Gesslbauer/Julia Radl and Katharina Holzer/Nikolina Maros. Gesslbauer and Radl won the first set 21-14, while Holzer and Maros claimed the second 21-16. The final set was a really close affair, and the unlucky Radl and her partner needed just a single point in order to advance to the next round (14-10), when she suffered an injury to her arm. As a result the set was awarded to Holzer/Maros 16-14 and the match finished 2-1.
The second unfortunate event of the morning occurred during the first set of the match on centre court, between the two Leonies from Germany, Klinke and Welsch and the Russian pair Nadezhda Makroguzova and Svetlana Kholomina. This was supposed to be a really exciting match, as Klinke is last year’s U18 European champion, and her Russian counterpart, Makroguzova was crowned champion of Europe in that same age group the year before.
The team from Germany led the first set 13-12 when Kholomina’s knee hit accidentally Welsch’s right knee near the net. As a result of this collision, the German player, who together with Klinke impressed with their performances during the first two days, had to retire. The Russians qualified into the next round with 2-0 (21-13, 21-0).
“Obviously I feel very disappointed, as we were coming into this event with high expectations. But, injuries are part of the game, and I knew that one day it would happen to me. Let’s hope that it’s not a serious injury,” said Welsch. The tragic irony is that Welsch came into this match with a slight injury to her left knee!
You can follow the competition also on social media with the official hashtag #EuroBeachVolleyU20
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